Kataang Wk II Mothers
by VerelLupin
Summary: Hopefully this is a new way of doing Kataang Week. - All Mothers - All Pairings. Mothers are what make us. Kataang/Maiko/Tokka
1. Strengths and Weakness

I know Kataang Wk II has come and gone a while ago but I had horrible writer's block. I am not doing the prompts in order as I don't see the point since the week is over.

I did do fanart for Panda Lilly. I might add a bit of story to it. (like a blurb)

Enjoy....

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"I knew it you signaled the fire navy with that flare." The boy shouted at them. "You're leading them straight to us aren't you."

The girl flinched but shot back, "Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident."

"It was my fault." Aang admitted.

It warmed her heart to see him. Liuli had only spent a few months with him. She was so very proud that he acknowledged his mistakes. Gyatso had raised him well.

The woman beside her shook her head at the young warrior's passionate accusation. Her Sokka had not changed a bit. He seemed so much like his father. Kya now turned her attention to her daughter.

"Aang is not our enemy." Katara shouted, already she was moving closer to the air bender. Kya and Liuli exchanged glances before becoming engrossed in the heated argument.

They argued and her boy, her Aang stood by. His small shoulders hunching slightly at every verbal jab. Even as a baby he had hated shouting.

It hurt Kya's heart to see how bitter Sokka had become. He was only sixteen and yet as she looked about Kya realized that he was the only male in the village above six. Avatar Roku had warned them that the world they had left behind had changed a great deal since their passing.

"Fine. Then I'm banished too!" Katara shouted dragging Aang with her.

"Aang is taking me to the North Pole." she snapped.

"I am?" the young monk replied. "Great." Liuli followed behind them nearly laughing at her son's exuberance. His father had been the same.

"Katara. Would you really choose him over your tribe?" Sokka's voice echoed over the tundra, it's hurt tones unmistakable. Kya stood between her children wondering of the outcome. "Your own family," he continued.

Aang stood beside her but before Liuli could do anything he moved forward. "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." he told her unhappily.

Liuli lightly felt the girl's aura, shocked she stepped back.

"You're leaving the south pole? This is goodbye." Katara looked at Aang in earnest, hoping she could maybe change his mind.

Liuli and Kya clasped hands, both feeling the love already beginning to unfurl between their children. "Guess, I'll go back home and look for the Airbenders."

Aang held onto Appa. His remark about not cleaning his room made his mother laugh and shrug unapologetically at Kya.

"Let's see your bison fly now, Airboy." Sokka taunted. Kya silently begged the cosmos to smack her son. "Yeah, I thought so." Sokka looked around apparently he had felt his mother's reprimand.

"I'll miss you too." Aang replied. Liuli was already seated by the reins. For the moment he would not be alone.

Gran-Gran approached but Katara had other plans. "You happy now. There goes my only chance at being a Waterbender." she shouted and walked away.

_"Mother. He is her destiny. She was meant to be with him. She is the other half of his power. You must let her go to him." Kya whispered fluttering her mother's hair._

Avatar Roku stood by motioning both women. "We must go back. You may see them again. For now we must go." the women turned to the Avatar but he bade them look behind him.

In a blink of a moment they found themselves no longer by the icy village. The vast expanse of water was marred only by the tiny vessel where Aang was currently trying to fight another boy.

In horror Liuli saw her boy. Her only child fall of the metal ship and into the frigid water. She screamed his name but it was in Katara's voice. Her son responded and Roku was pulled from them to assist the young Avatar.

Liuli's fear dispelled but dismay filled her. The avatar state would protect him but as soon as it left him Aang swayed and fell to the boat exhausted, Avatar Roku returned with a ready smile but stopped at Liuli's expression.

**'This was her son's destiny? His job? He was only a child. How could he do it alone?' **

Liuli felt Kya's comforting hand on her shoulder and she motioned for Liuli to look at the deck of the ship.

Katara was now holding up Aang and helping him into the saddle.

"My glider." Aang shouted out and Sokka ran to retrieve it. Katara meanwhile was attempting to freeze the rest of the fire nation soldiers. She froze her brother accidentally and Kya shook her head. The cosmos had apparently heard her earlier comment. Her son had a rough road ahead of him.

The new trio scrambled onto the awaiting bison. Kya knowingly smiled as her daughter leaned over the saddle looking over the young monk they had just rescued. Katara's expression was unreadable but it was obvious to the two mothers.

Sokka thankfully was blissfully unaware. **'Like his father,' **Kya thought.

Roku turned to both women, raising an eyebrow at Liuli as Aang showed an impressive arc of wind power to his mother. They watched as the trio ascended into the sky laughing at the now ice covered ship. "They will be his strength. He will be their protector. Let us leave."

Katara, Sokka and Aang boarded Appa unaware of the loving audience wishing them a good journey.

The three spirits disappeared, they would see them again.


	2. Comfort

**Here's the next prompt - I was a bit torn of which one this should be.**

**I chose Comfort.**

**Enjoy...**

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"He will be a good father," the dark head woman said to her companion.

"Do you think so?" the man queried.

"He may not have had the best example but he has many good ones to choose from now." The woman looked about the room. So many beautiful new couples. Young but so full of the hope this nation so badly needed.

Her gaze rested on the new Firelord. A woman about his age was currently correcting how he held the little boy in his arms. Her blue and yellow robes were being tugged on by a small child in red but it did not stop her from waving at them. Another tall and regal woman in red whispered something and the blue and yellow clad woman's laughter tinkled through the room as the Firelord's normally pale face was flushed with color.

He was much younger than the previous Firelord had been when he had taken the throne. Unlike the old one this Firelord carried a sense of vulnerability. Perhaps it was only visible to her, after all she was his mother.

"I appreciate the compliment, my lady." A gracious smile blossomed onto her face as the man tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow.

"I'm glad you are here to escort me, Avatar. " Lady Ursa inclined her head and the young Avatar blushed just a little bit.

"It is time. Are you ready?"

"I must admit I am a bit nervous." Ursa mentioned.

"Don't worry about them. I'll be with you every step of the way." He replied.

"Your mother would have been very proud of you, Aang." Lady Ursa squeezed his hand, "I certainly would be."

The nomad didn't bother to conceal the rush of happiness he felt at hearing such approval. "Thank you, Lady Ursa." He cleared his throat, "now let me lead you to your son. He has waited long enough."

**Later that night **

The tiny wail broke through the peaceful quiet of the vast Fire Nation Palace. Katara hearing it threw on her robe and ran as fast as she could. She got there as quickly as Ursa did. However neither had been faster than Zuko and Aang.

The two most powerful men in the four nations were currently gently swaying their respective children. Zuko gooeying ridiculously yet sweetly over his tiny daughter while Aang entertained his son by making the child's toys dance around them.

"I don't know why I bother." Katara said between yawns, "he always beats me here."

"Ozai never bothered with Zuko. He once sang to Azula but afterward he never went to the nursery."

"I'm sorry. My mother always rocked us to sleep but after she died our father took over." Katara explained her body pressed against the doorway.

"Iroh visited Zuko a few times. I think he though Iroh was his father." Ursa's words seemed to hang in the air unsure of where to go.

"I had a father and mother and you were both." Zuko said approaching his mother and handing her his daughter. "Uncle Iroh was my father only after you disappeared."

Katara moved off the doorway giving them space. Aang was still making the toys perform though Katara thought it was fascinating for him as well. He got up off the rocker and let her sit. He stood beside her waiting patiently as she got comfortable to hand her their son.

"I'm very grateful you have such wonderful friends. My little Zuko." Ursa said cupping her son's face.

"Especially Aang. He brought you back to me," he mumbled. Forgetting that he was the ruler of the land, Zuko buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

"I'll never leave you again. Zuko. I promise." Ursa kissed his head and then her grandchild's.

"Zuko, it's late. Put the baby down and let your mother rest. She's had a long journey." Mai admonished appearing beside her husband.

Zuko opened his mouth to make a comment but Aang halted him, "never talk back to a pregnant woman. Especially when its your beautiful but sleep deprived wife."

Zuko bowed to Katara. "You have taught him well." The waterbender laughed as Zuko attempted to take the baby from his mother's arm.

"If it's alright, I would like to spend some more time with my granddaughter."

Zuko kissed his mother and with great care took the very pregnant Mai back to their room. Katara stayed with them for at least an hour before she too was forced to retire.

"Don't be too long." Katara whispered and kissed Aang softly.

"My mother would have love her." Aang replied his gaze lingering on Katara's departing figure. "I would have liked her to have met her."

Ursa approached the young man and hugged him lightly. He enveloped her letting a few tears escape into her heavy garments. "I miss my mother."

"I've missed you too, my little bird." Ursa whispered.

Aang pulled his face from her tunic and stared up at her. Ursa's dark eyes were now identical replicas of the shimmering gray that decorated his own face. "I love you."

She outlined his face and he memorized her touch, "katara is lovely and so is my grandson, I am so proud of you." He closed his eyes and felt her feathery kiss on his cheek. "I will always be with you."

Ursa shook herself and they each let go. She turned away to give the nomad a chance to compose himself.

"Thank you." he said and disappeared from the room.

A slight wind ruffled the curtains and Lady Ursa could make out the shape of a dark haired woman with gray colored eyes. Eyes that were brimming with happy tears. "Thank you, Ursa."

Lady Ursa looked down at the two children. A boy in red and a girl in orange.

"You're very welcome, Liuli."


	3. Tradition of the Panda Lily

**I know its like last year but I have been uber busy with a bunch of other stories. I am determined to finish this before the next Kataang Week (I am totally gonna ignore Aug. Kataang Week cause then I'll really feel guilty. Insert sheepish grin here)**

**So this prompt is a mix of Panda Lily and Tradition. It is for tradition but the fanart for Panda Lily goes with this. (So only 3 to go Whoo Hoo!!)**

**I will update Aang and the Taming of Mai soon. I promise!**

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The red hot lava's steam caressed the delicate ying yang petals. It had never known anything but the dark fertile earth of its mother and yet the hand carefully sliding beneath its roots was precise yet obviously gentle even to its limited knowledge.

Brothers and sisters waved at it wishing it a fond journey. A journey most of them would be undertaking as well. The pull of the breeze caught on the woman's green dress and she stumbled a little. The little flower stretched its stem as if to catch her.

The woman caught herself and stepped around more carefully. Like all living things it was aware of its limited time so it lifted its petal in a final goodbye as its volcanic home faded into the distance. It lay cradled in its new owner's hand, a hand that knew how to care and cherish a living specimen.

"We are almost home." The voice whispered.

The lily was placed in soothing soil similar to its home.

"A Panda Lily!" Another voice exclaimed.

Several months passed and all the while it rested in its new home, watered carefully and maintained until it too could give life. The woman took care of it and spoke of her own offspring to it every chance she had. "Will it be ready for the festival?" Toph asked interrupting another such conversation.

"It should be." Her mother answered.

"How did you get it?" Toph asked she reached out her hand. Her mother grasped it and guided it so that her blind little girl could tentatively caress the flower.

"You're father is not the only one who knows where they grow." Her mother laughed at her young daughter's look of surprise that her mother would ever get dirty for anything.

"Mother?"

That same woman now sixteen years later was still watering her Panda Lilies. "Yes, Toph."

"Can you take me to get my own?" Toph was uncharacteristically patient as she felt the vibrations of her mother put down her watering can and approach.

"I take its for the festival?" the woman gently inquired.

"Yes, its tradition but Father won't tell me where they are and though I could find it myself…well it wouldn't be the same." Toph finished waiting for the swift refusal.

"Would you like Katara to go as well?" her mother asked quietly.

"Could we include her…I know its not the way but she doesn't have--- "

Her mother did not allow her to finish, instead she hugged her daughter delicately. "Let's go right now, while we still have light."

They collected Katara and the three women began the trek to one of the volcanic mountains. Toph took extra care to make the area as smooth as possible but her mother scolded her. "I know you are trying to help but the hardship is what makes the Lily all the more precious."

Katara had been very quiet and it wasn't until they reached the top that Toph's mother reached out. "Katara, whatever you are feeling. I'm sure its natural. I myself was brought up here by my grandmother since my mother had passed away some time before."

Katara wiped at the tear that escaped her. She leaned forward to pluck the flower and held onto the woman's hand as so many other earth kingdom women had done before them. Katara then held Toph's hand as she too pulled her own flower.

Carefully they were put in pots and carried back down the mountain.

Several months later their flowers gave up seeds to continue the cycle. The day of the festival both Toph and Katara presented Toph's mother with a Lily each as was tradition. It was a symbol of the unity of their family.

The evening of the festival was drawing to a close with one tradition left.

Katara and Toph waited impatiently for Aang and Sokka to finish dressing so they too could be seated with their father's and uncles already awaiting them to begin the ceremony. After much grumbling about their intricate robes and lack of help from their significant others they finally made their appearance and took their respective places.

Katara and Toph being the youngest approached their husbands first. They bowed respectfully and handed the ornate boxes to each man. Sokka opened his much more enthusiastically than was proper but Toph had not expected less from him.

Inside was a betrothal necklace, with the ends being the stems wound around tough but fine hide and the pendant being a mixture of water and earth in the lilys colors. The white was from the flower itself and the black was a piece of the black metal he had given her so long ago.

"Thank you…" Sokka swallowed and closed the box unable to utter a word.

"I thought you would like it…since you always talked about how hard it was to make mine and… I'm sorry." Toph had never willingly apologized for anything and the fact that he had reduced her to it, made Sokka ignore the ceremony and get up.

He hugged her, "Its better than my space sword." Toph blushed several different shades but Aang's witty remark set her at ease and she good naturedly punched the avatar while she hugged her husband and pushed Aang back to his chair. Her parents gasped and rolled their eyes but Aang just shrugged it off and Sokka sat.

Katara followed next and she presented her box to Aang. He had a bit more decorum but she could see the barely restrained glee at getting a present. The box was similar to Sokka's in size. Aang slid the top of and stared in wonder at its interior.

He was silent for so long that Katara began to fidget where she stood. "Come on, Twinkletoes what gives?" Toph exclaimed unable to help herself. The assembled family laughed despite themselves.

"I can't take this." Aang said finally, closing the box reverently.

Katara stayed still completely mortified and hurt at his refusal. She could see Sokka already up and ready to smack some sense into the airbender but Toph shook her head and bade him to sit beside her.

"Katara, you have given me so much already." Aang began, "you are the reason for my every breath. You have already given me yourself and the right to call you my wife. It would be greedy to accept any more."

The room was absolutely silent as if the room itself was holding its breath. "Well you better accept it because it's the way a new life is announced here in the earth kingdom." Katara said this last bit with her hands on her hips, "so help me, Aang if you don't appreciate me climbing a mountain to pull a flower to tell you that you are going to be a father, I will make sure you are breathing your last breath."

Beside them Sokka fell out of his chair, "What!!"

"Don't worry, Snoozles. You got a while." Toph said helping him back up. He pulled himself up and stared at her and Katara and back to her and then again at Katara. "You and her and her and you---- "and then he passed out.

Aang had not said another word and he had to be forcefully restrained from hugging everybody in the room once the news and all it's ramification had sunken in.

Toph's mother urged the other women to finish off the ceremony and then she too moved from her spot at the entrance and placed a box in front of her husband. He looked at her in surprise but she shook her head and smiled. "Not this time, but it is tradition."

Katara and Aang sat the rest of the meal in peaceful contentment with Aang as close to glowing as it was possible without the Avatar State while Katara just beamed at her father and grandparents. Sokka and Toph spent their meal whispering to each other with Sokka occasionally putting a protective hand on his wife's stomach.

For her part Toph just smiled and her mother looked at her knowingly. This would be the only time that her headstrong daughter would be serene for the next few months of that she was sure so she inclined her head at the young warrior. The poor man had a difficult road ahead of him, she might as well be supportive.

He let a tiny yet suspicious smile flit about his mouth before turning to fully grin at his wife, who grinned back just as widely.


End file.
